Honor and Justice

Chapter 11

By Aryn

Mei walked into her apartment and wearily shut the door. Hana was safe with the Winner's, Noin had the remaining pilots protecting the New Sanc Kingdom, Mr. Wu had come out of his a coma in the middle of the night and Wufei was two blocks away. All she needed now was a good meal, a hot shower and night's rest. She had better get those things now, before the fights between OZ and Preventers brook loose and it would be awhile before any of the above three were allowed. She slipped her shoes off and headed for the kitchen. But as she passed through the living room, she stopped dead in her tracks.

Shen sat in one of her chairs, lazily reading the newspaper.

"I thought you would never get back." he said, almost nonchalantly. "I'm hungry."

"Well, since you've already helped yourself to my paper and my house, what stopped you from raiding my refrigerator?" Mei replied, annoyed at his intrusion.

Shen threw the paper down and stood abruptly to his feet. "Don't you dare take that tone with me. You can talk however you like to that pony-tailed brat, but not to me. Deshi was too loose with you. You need to learn your place as a wife."

"I am not your wife!" she yelled back. "I never was and I never will be."

"You were promised to me. Our parents made an vow."

"We were five, Shen. And if you hadn't noticed, our parents are dead. The vow means nothing."

"And I don't appreciate being called a pony-tailed brat." a voice said from the door.

Both turned around to see Wufei standing in the doorway.

"You stay out of this." Shen shouted to him.

"You brought me into it." Wufei calmly noted, shutting the door.

"Wufei please," Mei whispered as he walked past by her.

Wufei glanced back at her, letting her know to stay out of it.

"And I also don't appreciate hearing someone who calls himself a man, speaking to woman like that." Wufei told him.

"That's none of your business. I suggest you stay out of this." Shen challenged.

"I'm making it my business." Wufei said, rolling up his sleeves.

"A mighty warrior like yourself starting mere fisticuffs? I would have expected more from you." Shen prodded.

Wufei looked up from his sleeve at Shen, shrugged his shoulders and took up a martial arts stance.

"Stop!" Mei shouted, stepping between the two. "I will not tolerate this kind of behavior in my home. Take it outside if you so wish."

"Let's go then." Wufei said, walking towards the door.

"My fight isn't with you Chang." Shen said as he made his way to the door. "I don't waste my time on dishonored clans."

Mei jumped forward and grabbed Wufei's arm before he could raise it any further to throw a punch.

"Wufei, please, just let him leave." she pleaded. The exasperation in her voice brought Wufei out of his angry state of mind and he slowly lowered his fist. Shen turned to Mei after he had stepped out the door and smiled broadly.

"A pleasure as always Mei." he said. Wufei slammed the door in his face and turned to face Mei.

"Why didn't you let me deal with him?" he asked her point blank, still angry with the whole turn of events.

"Because what would it have gain you? Satisfaction in beating an unimportant person into a bloody pulp? All I would gain is a bloody carpet." Mei teased, hoping to calm him down somewhat.

Wufei looked back at the closed door and then at Mei. He noticed her hand was still on his arm and all his anger just disappeared.

"Did he hurt you?" he asked in a sober tone.

"No, not at all." Mei told him, thankful to see sanity had returned to his eyes.

"Good. I heard Mr. Wu came out of his a coma last night. I went to the hospital you weren't there. But Mrs. Wu asked me to stay for a little while. I stopped by the restaurant, but one of the waiters said that you had cleaned up the dining area and went home." he told her, before looking back at the door. "I'm glad I got here when I did."

"I am too." Mei said, making her way to the kitchen. "Can I get you anything?"

"Don't you ever stop woman?" he exclaimed following her into the kitchen.

"Not when there are things that need to be done. What do you want?" Mei said, turning around to face him, a box of tea in one hand, the tea kettle in another. Wufei sighed at the picture before him. The woman hadn't slept or eaten for that matter, in the past twenty four hours, maybe more. And here she was, ready to treat him as an honored guest. He reached over and took the tea and kettle from her and put them down on the counter.

"Go take a shower." he told her.

"But-" she started.

"Go take a shower." he repeated, emphasizing the first word. Realizing she wasn't going to win this battle, she relented with a nod of her head and went to take a shower.

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Duo sat on the foot of the Deathscythe and watched as Trowa still tinkered with the Heavyarms. Trowa glanced down at the braided pilot and sighed inwardly. It looked like he was going to have to be talkative.

"What?" he called down, still fussing with wires.

"Don't you find it kind of lonely here?" Duo answered back. "I mean, Heero and Arys are on their way, but Quatre and Nari are in Ireland, and Wufei and Mei are still on L-5 colony cluster. It just feels...empty."

"You just miss someone to play pranks on." Trowa noted, reaching for a wrench. He picked it up and it slipped right out of his hands and clanged on the floor, twenty feet below. Trowa looked at his hand with disgust. The tool had been completely covered in oil.

"Or not." Trowa remarked annoyed. Duo picked up the wrench with a rag.

"Dude, you need to be more careful with your tools."

Trowa just regarded the American with a shake of his head as he pulled out another wrench and proceeded with his work.

"What's this hunk of junk doing here?" a voice called out across the hanger.

Duo turned around to see Arys and Heero walk through the doors and over to him.

"What hunk of junk?" Duo called back.

"That one." Arys said, pointing to the Deathscythe.

"Hey, I just finished souping up that hunk of junk lady." he teased.

"Really?" Arys said, regarding the tall machine. "Did you remember to change the batteries in your glow stick?"

"Scythe. Not stick, Scythe." Duo replied.

"Whatever." Arys said waving her hand.

"When's Wufei coming back?" Trowa asked, silently walking up to the them.

"Whenever the battle starts." Heero answered.

"What about Quatre and Nari?" Duo asked.

"Same." Heero answered.

Duo walked over to Heero and put an arm around the Japanese boy's shoulders while Heero eyed his suspiciously.

"I missed you man." Duo said. "I've missed our conversations."

"You're going to miss something else if you don't get off me." Heero threatened.

Immediately Duo dropped his arm. "I've missed your threats too."

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Mei walked out of her bedroom completely refreshed from her shower. Till her stomach growled and she realized that it wasn't so complete just yet. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the table set, with food out on it.

"Feel better?"

Mei jumped at the sound of Wufei's voice behind her.

"You did this?" she asked, pointing to the table.

"I've lived on my own for quite a few years now. You're not the only one with cooking skills." he answered, smiling slightly.

"Obviously not." she said, sitting down at the table in shock. She eyed the food he had set out. Rice, chicken, and of course, tea. She was pleasantly surprised. Wufei had been able to set out a whole meal within thirty minutes.

"If Duo were here, all this would be gone in thirty seconds," Wufei said, setting a dish down on the table.

Mei looked up at Wufei as he sat down at the table across from her. "So, I take it Duo isn't the cook at Preventer Headquarters?"

Wufei snorted in disgust. "The guy could burn water. He sure eats a lot though for not knowing how to cook."

"You don't miss Duo or the others, do you?" Mei asked thoughtfully.

"Arys and Heero are too caught up in each other to think about the rest of us. They come out of their little world once in a while to honor us with their presence. Quatre and Nari are the same. That leaves Duo and Trowa for me to talk to. Duo's annoying, and Trowa, well, Trowa doesn't talk all that much anyway." Wufei appeared to be deep in thought as he recited his friends' faults.

Mei had to grin.

Wufei shook his head, coming to a conclusion. "I would much rather be in your company than in theirs." The comment slipped out before Wufei could stop it, and he almost clapped a hand over his mouth. He glanced at Mei and saw the look on her face. It was a gentle look. She reached over and took his hand, smiling.

"It's okay, Wufei. I know you didn't mean that."

Wufei shook his head. "No, Mei... I..." He paused, trying to get his whirling thoughts into some semblance of order. He finally relented. "Yes, I do miss the others somewhat, but I do enjoy your company."

Mei nodded. "That's better." She waved to the food set out in front of them. "Now, we'd better eat your masterpiece before it gets cold."